Jelly Cups and Fun Runs: How Avalon Public is helping Indigenous literacy

This term, the teachers at Avalon Public School in the Northern Beaches of Sydney have done an amazing job creating engaging and educational activities that have helped raise funds and spread awareness surrounding the literacy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

Through the amazing organisation of the teachers at Avalon Public, students were able to participate in an array of cultural activities and learn all about our work with remote communities.

Elisa Spano, one of the teachers leading the events, created some fantastic posters and worksheets surrounding the our Foundation’s work and encouraged students, teachers and community members to donate and spread awareness through the school’s newsletters and social media sites.

There was a big focus on I Saw, We Saw, a book published by our Foundation in collaboration with Yolngu students at Nhulunbuy Primary School in the Northern Territory.

This allowed the kids at Avalon Public to learn some Dhanu words, and inspired an understanding of the necessity of creating books in traditional languages.

Avalon Public raised funds by selling jelly cups in the canteen and participating in a local Fun Run, and all classes were shown clips from our online stories including Moli Det Bigibigi and No Way Yirikipayi!

Elisa says she’s extremely proud of how invested the Avalon students became in helping out and wanting to learn more.

“I think the best part of our fundraising for the ILF was helping our students gain an understanding of remote communities, the literacy gap faced by Indigenous peoples in remote communities, and the power of books – particularly those in first languages.”

We love seeing schools like Avalon Public create fun and interactive ways of spreading awareness and raising funds to provide the tools for literacy across all of Australia!

Why not hold your own community fundraiser for our Foundation? Check out some more information about how you can help here.

• Posted 31 October, 2019